Show, Don’t Tell: GitHub as Hidden Curriculum

How GitHub Can Help You Get Hired

Danilo Freire
danilo.freire@emory.edu

Emory University

02 December, 2025

Hello everyone! 🙋🏻

Hi, I’m Danilo 👋🏻

Overview

  • What is the “hidden curriculum” and why it matters for you
  • Git and GitHub basics
  • Using GitHub to improve your job prospects
  • Anatomy of a good repository and best practices
  • Collaborating on GitHub and getting credit for your work
  • GitHub Pages: Your first portfolio in 5 minutes
  • Final thoughts and summary
  • Appendices: Practical exercises to improve your GitHub presence

GitHub’s Octocat mascot

What is the “hidden curriculum”? 🤔

  • Philip Jackson (1968) argued that schools do more than just teach academic content
  • They also transmit social norms, values, and expectations that are not explicitly stated in the formal curriculum
  • To succeed, you need to understand and navigate this hidden curriculum
  • Formal Curriculum: “Read Chapter 4 and write a summary.”
  • Hidden Curriculum: “You must write this summary using a specific, formal academic tone; you should know that asking for an extension 24 hours before the deadline is acceptable, but 1 hour before is not; and you should know that visiting my office hours to discuss it will likely improve your grade, even though ‘visiting office hours’ isn’t on the rubric.”

Why does it matter for you?

  • The hidden curriculum creates an equity gap
  • Students whose families have a history of higher education learn those rules informally
  • First-generation, low-income, foreigners, or those unfamiliar with academia or labour markets may struggle
  • This can be a major source of anxiety and self-doubt even for high-achievers
  • Many students, including myself, have learned these rules through trial and error, often making mistakes along the way
  • More information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_curriculum
  • But don’t worry, I’m here to help you navigate it! 🤓

OECD on the hidden curriculum

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2024)

GitHub to the rescue! 👩🏼‍💻

GitHub to the rescue!

  • GitHub.com is the world’s largest platform for hosting and collaborating on code
  • Think about it as Google Docs for code
  • But it’s also much more than that!
  • It has become a de facto portfolio for data scientists, programmers, and other professionals
  • Employers often look at candidates’ GitHub profiles to assess their skills and experience
  • Having a strong GitHub presence can set you apart from other candidates
  • As we will see shortly, it can help you credibly demonstrate your programming and soft skills, indicate that you are proactive and consistent, and show that you are a great team player!
  • If you don’t have a GitHub account yet, create one now!

An (extremely brief) introduction to Git and GitHub

  • Git is a version control system that helps you track changes to your code over time
  • It allows you to collaborate with others on coding projects
  • GitHub is a web-based platform that uses Git to help you manage and share your code repositories
  • You can create repositories (online folders), add files, commit changes (write messages about what you changed), and push updates (upload changes to GitHub)
  • You can also collaborate with others by forking repositories (copying someone else’s repo), making pull requests (suggesting changes), and reviewing code
  • Install Git (https://git-scm.com/downloads) and set up your GitHub account
  • To create a new repository, click the “+” icon in the top right corner of GitHub and select “New repository”
  • Name your repository, add a description, and choose whether to make it public or private
  • To clone a repository to your local machine, open your terminal and use the command git clone <repository-url>
  • To add files, use git add <file-name>; to commit changes, use git commit -m "Your commit message"; and to push updates, use git push origin main

Example GitHub workflow

Creating a new repository on GitHub

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Example GitHub workflow

Cloning the repository to your local machine

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Example GitHub workflow

Adding, committing, and pushing changes

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Github Desktop

  • If the terminal is too intimidating, you can use GitHub Desktop instead
  • It provides a graphical user interface for managing your repositories
  • You can do (almost) everything you would do in the terminal, but with buttons and menus
  • Great for beginners and to get started quickly!
  • Download it here: https://desktop.github.com/ and read the documentation: https://docs.github.com/en/desktop

Click to enlarge

Source: https://desktop.github.com/

Using GitHub to improve your job prospects 🚀

Show, don’t tell!

The job market has changed

  • A degree gets you in the door…
  • Proof gets you the job!
  • CVs say “I can do this.” GitHub says “Look, I did this.”
  • Employers want to see evidence of your skills, not just claims
  • Don’t just list “Python” or “Project Management” on LinkedIn
  • Link to a Repo where you actually used Python or managed a project
  • Reduces hiring risk for employers and makes you a more compelling candidate
  • Data analysts: for you it’s not optional!
  • Business analysts and other non-technical roles: you understand modern workflows and can manage your projects without the chaos
  • Let’s see some examples!

Anatomy of a good repository

  • A good repository should have:
    • A clear and descriptive name (e.g., market-trends-latam-2025)
    • An informative description summarising the project’s purpose
    • A detailed README file that explains the project, its purpose, and how to use it
    • Folders organising code, data, and documentation
    • Well-organised code with comments explaining key sections
    • A license file specifying how others can use your code
    • Issues and pull requests demonstrating collaboration and problem-solving (if applicable)
market-trends-latam-2025/
├── README.md
├── requirements.txt
├── .gitignore
├── data/
│   ├── raw/
│   │   └── dataset.csv
│   └── processed/
│       └── cleaned_data.csv
├── src/
│   ├── data_processing.py
│   ├── analysis.py
│   └── visualisation.py
├── notebooks/
│   ├── 01_exploratory_analysis.ipynb
│   └── 02_modeling.ipynb
├── tests/
│   ├── test_data_processing.py
│   └── test_analysis.py
├── figures/
│   ├── trend_analysis.png
│   └── correlation_matrix.png
└── docs/
    ├── methodology.md
    └── results_summary.md

.gitignore files

Stop committing junk!

  • A .gitignore file tells Git which files or folders to ignore when committing changes
  • This is important to avoid committing unnecessary or sensitive files, such as:
    • Temporary files (e.g., .DS_Store, thumbs.db)
    • Environment files (e.g., env/, venv/, .env)
    • Large data files that shouldn’t be in the repository
    • API keys or passwords
  • You can create a .gitignore file manually or use templates from gitignore.io (recommended)
# Created by https://www.toptal.com/developers/gitignore/api/python,macos
# Edit at https://www.toptal.com/developers/gitignore?templates=python,macos

### macOS ###
# General
.DS_Store
.AppleDouble
.LSOverride

# Icon must end with two \r
Icon


# Thumbnails
._*

# Files that might appear in the root of a volume
.DocumentRevisions-V100
.fseventsd
.Spotlight-V100
.TemporaryItems
.Trashes
.VolumeIcon.icns
.com.apple.timemachine.donotpresent

# Directories potentially created on remote AFP share
.AppleDB
.AppleDesktop
Network Trash Folder
Temporary Items
.apdisk

### macOS Patch ###
# iCloud generated files
*.icloud

### Python ###
# Byte-compiled / optimized / DLL files
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
*$py.class

# C extensions
*.so

# Distribution / packaging
.Python
build/
develop-eggs/
dist/
downloads/
eggs/
.eggs/
lib/
lib64/
parts/
sdist/
var/
wheels/
share/python-wheels/
*.egg-info/
.installed.cfg
*.egg
MANIFEST

# PyInstaller
#  Usually these files are written by a python script from a template
#  before PyInstaller builds the exe, so as to inject date/other infos into it.
*.manifest
*.spec

# Installer logs
pip-log.txt
pip-delete-this-directory.txt

# Unit test / coverage reports
htmlcov/
.tox/
.nox/
.coverage
.coverage.*
.cache
nosetests.xml
coverage.xml
*.cover
*.py,cover
.hypothesis/
.pytest_cache/
cover/

# Translations
*.mo
*.pot

# Django stuff:
*.log
local_settings.py
db.sqlite3
db.sqlite3-journal

# Flask stuff:
instance/
.webassets-cache

# Scrapy stuff:
.scrapy

# Sphinx documentation
docs/_build/

# PyBuilder
.pybuilder/
target/

# Jupyter Notebook
.ipynb_checkpoints

# IPython
profile_default/
ipython_config.py

# pyenv
#   For a library or package, you might want to ignore these files since the code is
#   intended to run in multiple environments; otherwise, check them in:
# .python-version

# pipenv
#   According to pypa/pipenv#598, it is recommended to include Pipfile.lock in version control.
#   However, in case of collaboration, if having platform-specific dependencies or dependencies
#   having no cross-platform support, pipenv may install dependencies that don't work, or not
#   install all needed dependencies.
#Pipfile.lock

# poetry
#   Similar to Pipfile.lock, it is generally recommended to include poetry.lock in version control.
#   This is especially recommended for binary packages to ensure reproducibility, and is more
#   commonly ignored for libraries.
#   https://python-poetry.org/docs/basic-usage/#commit-your-poetrylock-file-to-version-control
#poetry.lock

# pdm
#   Similar to Pipfile.lock, it is generally recommended to include pdm.lock in version control.
#pdm.lock
#   pdm stores project-wide configurations in .pdm.toml, but it is recommended to not include it
#   in version control.
#   https://pdm.fming.dev/#use-with-ide
.pdm.toml

# PEP 582; used by e.g. github.com/David-OConnor/pyflow and github.com/pdm-project/pdm
__pypackages__/

# Celery stuff
celerybeat-schedule
celerybeat.pid

# SageMath parsed files
*.sage.py

# Environments
.env
.venv
env/
venv/
ENV/
env.bak/
venv.bak/

# Spyder project settings
.spyderproject
.spyproject

# Rope project settings
.ropeproject

# mkdocs documentation
/site

# mypy
.mypy_cache/
.dmypy.json
dmypy.json

# Pyre type checker
.pyre/

# pytype static type analyzer
.pytype/

# Cython debug symbols
cython_debug/

# PyCharm
#  JetBrains specific template is maintained in a separate JetBrains.gitignore that can
#  be found at https://github.com/github/gitignore/blob/main/Global/JetBrains.gitignore
#  and can be added to the global gitignore or merged into this file.  For a more nuclear
#  option (not recommended) you can uncomment the following to ignore the entire idea folder.
#.idea/

### Python Patch ###
# Poetry local configuration file - https://python-poetry.org/docs/configuration/#local-configuration
poetry.toml

# ruff
.ruff_cache/

# LSP config files
pyrightconfig.json

# End of https://www.toptal.com/developers/gitignore/api/python,macos

Source: https://gitignore.io

Git commit etiquette

Write good commit messages

  • A good commit message should be:
    • Clear and concise: summarise the changes in a few words
    • Descriptive: explain why the change was made, not just what was changed
    • Consistent: follow a standard format for all commit messages
  • Bad: “fixed stuff”, “typo”, “final version”
  • Good: “Fix calculation error in revenue model”, “Update README with installation steps”, “Add unit tests for data processing functions”
  • The rule: use the Imperative Mood (“Add”, not “Added”)

README.md files: Your project’s front page

Make a strong first impression!

  • The README file is the first thing visitors see when they visit your repository
  • It should provide a clear overview of the project, including:
    • Project title and description
    • Installation instructions
    • Usage examples
    • Contribution guidelines (if applicable)
    • Contact information
    • License information
  • A well-crafted README can make a strong first impression and encourage others to check your work
  • It also shows soft skills like communication, attention to detail, and professionalism
  • Learn how to use Markdown to format your README effectively
  • Use your LLM of choice too!

Example README.md file

# Market Trends Analysis in Latin America (2025)

## Overview

This project analyses market trends in Latin America for the year 2025 using Python and various data
analysis libraries. 

## Repository Structure

This repository is organised as follows:

- `data/`: Contains raw and processed datasets
- `src/`: Source code for data processing, analysis, and visualisation
- `notebooks/`: Jupyter notebooks for exploratory data analysis and modeling
- `figures/`: Visualisations generated from the analysis
- `docs/`: Documentation related to the project

## Installation

To run this project, clone the repository and install the required packages:

```
git clone
pip install -r requirements.txt
```

## Usage

Run the main analysis script:

```
python src/analysis.py
```

## Contribution

Contributions are welcome! Please fork the repository and submit a pull request.

## Contact

For questions or feedback, contact Danilo Freire at <danilo.freire@example.com> or open an issue on GitHub.

## License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

The profile README.md file

Your personal landing page on GitHub

  • You can create a special repository named exactly as your GitHub username (e.g., danilofreire)
  • This repository should contain a README.md file that serves as your personal landing page on GitHub
  • Use this space to introduce yourself, highlight your skills, showcase your projects, and provide links to your portfolio or LinkedIn profile

Click to enlarge

Source: https://github.com/ck37

The contribution graph (the green squares)

Show your consistency

  • The contribution graph on your GitHub profile shows your activity over time
  • Regular contributions, even small ones, demonstrate consistency
  • Aim to make frequent commits, even if they are minor updates or fixes
  • Cramming the night before is not as impressive as consistent effort over weeks and months!

Click to enlarge

Source: https://github.com/hadley

Collaborating on GitHub 🤝

The feature-branch workflow

  • Collaborating on GitHub often involves using branches
  • A branch is a separate version of the codebase where you can work on new features or fixes without affecting the main code
  • The main branch (or master in older repositories) should only contain stable, production-ready code. Don’t mess it up! 😂
  • Create a new branch for each feature or fix you work on (e.g., feature-login, bugfix-typo, new-module)
  • If you’re working by yourself, branches are not strictly necessary, but they are a good habit to develop
  • When you’re done with your changes, you can open a pull request to merge your branch back into main
  • This allows for code review and discussion before changes are integrated
1. Create a new branch from `main`
git checkout -b feature-branch

2. Check if you are on the new branch
git branch

3. Make changes and commit them
git add <file-name>
git commit -m "Add new feature that does X, Y, and Z"

4. Push the branch to GitHub
git push origin feature-branch

5. Open a pull request on GitHub to merge `feature-branch` into `main`

Click to enlarge

Source: https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/comparing-workflows/feature-branch-workflow

Pull requests and issues

  • A pull request (PR) is a request to merge changes from one branch into another
  • PRs allow for discussion and review of code changes before they are integrated
  • When you open a PR, provide a clear description of the changes you made and why
  • This is also an opportunity to showcase your communication skills
  • Issues are used to comment on bugs, suggest new features, or ask questions
  • They are not as useful to your profile as pull requests, but it shows that you are engaged and proactive
  • More information here: https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests and https://docs.github.com/en/issues

Pull requests and issues

Click to enlarge

Source: https://www.researchgate.net

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Source: https://github.com/danilofreire/dotfiles/issues/1

Getting credit for your contributions

You already do!

  • Any employer can see your contributions to public repositories on GitHub
  • How? GitHub automatically tracks contributions based on commits, pull requests, and issues
  • To ensure your contributions are counted:
  • Use the same email address for Git commits as the one associated with your GitHub account
  • Make sure your commits are pushed to the repository on GitHub
  • Your contributions will then appear on your GitHub profile under the “Contributions” section and if you click on “Insights” > “Contributors” in a repository
  • This is how you can verify your work history (show, don’t tell, remember?)

GitHub Pages

  • Finally, let’s talk about GitHub Pages
  • GitHub Pages allows you to host static websites directly from your GitHub repositories
  • You can use it to, of course, showcase your projects, portfolio, or blog
  • It’s free and you get a custom URL too: https://yourusername.github.io/your-repo-name/
  • You can use Jekyll, Hugo, or even plain HTML/CSS/JavaScript
  • This is probably the most impressive way to demonstrate your skills and projects to potential employers
  • Even a simple website or portfolio can make a big difference!
  • More information here: https://docs.github.com/en/pages

Click to enlarge

Source: https://danilofreire.github.io/qtm350/

Your first portfolio in 5 minutes

The “fork” strategy

  • Building a website from scratch (HTML/CSS) is hard and time-consuming
  • The “Hacker” way: Don’t start from scratch. Fork a template!
  • Step 1: Find a Jekyll theme you like (e.g., online-cv or academicpages)
  • Step 2: Click the “Fork” button (top right) to copy it to your account
  • Step 3: Rename the repository to yourusername.github.io
  • Step 4: Edit the _config.yml (or data.yml in some projects) file to add your name and details
  • Step 5: Commit the changes, go to “Settings” > “Pages”, and select the main (or master) branch as the source
  • Result: You have a professional website live at https://yourusername.github.io!
  • Search for “Jekyll themes” on Google to find more templates, such as https://jekyllthemes.io/free

Click to enlarge

GitHub automatically builds the site when you commit changes to the config file.

GitHub Pages in action

A live example

  • Let’s see how this works in practice!
  • I will show you how to fork a template repository
  • Then we’ll edit the configuration file together
  • Finally, we’ll deploy the site and see it live
  • This is exactly what you can do in less than 5 minutes
  • No coding experience required!
  • I will use the online-cv template for this demo

Click to enlarge

Source: https://jekyllthemes.io/theme/online-cv

Final thoughts 🧠

Summary: how to use GitHub to boost your career

  • GitHub helps you navigate this hidden curriculum
  • Your code is better than claims: Let your repositories demonstrate your technical abilities
  • Documentation proves communication skills: Write good, detailed README files, including your personal profile README
  • Pull requests prove teamwork: Show you can work in professional environments
  • Consistency builds credibility: Regular commits show you’re proactive when nobody is grading you
  • Your portfolio showcases your best work: GitHub Pages transforms your repositories into a website
  • You go from a candidate with claims into a candidate with proof!

The professional checklist

  • Clean up your repository names: final_project_v2 looks like a school assignment. predictive-maintenance-model looks like professional work
  • Pin your best work and check your profile README: Use the “Customise your pins” feature to showcase your best repositories
  • Test all your links: Does that live demo actually load? Broken links look unprofessional
  • Add a license: MIT license is a great default
  • Curate your gallery: Make those half-finished “hello world” experiments private. Your profile should tell a story of competence and completion
  • Check your commit history: A profile with small, regular commits looks like a career. One massive commit from 6 months ago looks like you forgot about GitHub until yesterday
  • And finally…
  • Don’t forget to smile! Have fun along the way 😊
  • I’m already rooting for all of you!

Thank you! 🙏🏻

Q&A and contact info


Any questions?


https://danilofreire.github.io



https://github.com/danilofreire

Appendix: Some exercises

Exercise 1: the “hello world” (beginner)

  1. Create an Account: Go to GitHub.com and sign up (if you haven’t)
  2. Create a Repo: Click + -> New Repository
  3. Name it: my-first-repo
  4. Check the box: ✅ Initialise this repository with a README
  5. Edit: Click the pencil icon ✏️ on the README file
  6. Write: “Hello! I am [Name] and I am learning the hidden curriculum of tech”
  7. Commit: Scroll down, type “Update introduction”, and click Commit changes

Congratulations! You just pushed your first code to the cloud ☁️

Exercise 2: the “profile polisher” (beginner)

  • Create your profile repository: Create a new repository named exactly as your GitHub username (e.g., yourusername)
  • Write a compelling README: that includes:
    • A professional introduction about yourself
    • Your key skills and technologies (with icons!)
    • Current projects you’re working on
    • Links to your portfolio, LinkedIn, or other professional profiles
    • GitHub stats or contribution graphs
  • Pin your best repositories: to the top of your profile (use the “Customize your pins” feature)
  • Add a professional profile picture: and update your bio

The impact: This is often the first thing recruiters see. A polished profile immediately signals professionalism and makes them want to explore your work further.

Exercise 3: the “documentation hero” (beginner)

  • Find a repository with a poor README (or use one of your existing repos that needs improvement)
  • Fork it to your account and clone it locally
  • Enhance the README with:
    • Better structure and organization
    • Clear installation steps
    • Usage examples with code snippets
    • Badges for build status, license, etc.
    • A “Contributing” section
  • Commit your changes: with descriptive messages like “Add installation instructions” and “Include usage examples”
  • Push back to GitHub:

Why this matters: Employers value candidates who can explain their work!

Exercise 4: the “portfolio page” (expert)

  1. Find a Template: Go to https://github.com/academicpages/academicpages.github.io or https://github.com/sharu725/online-cv
  2. Fork It: Click the “Fork” button (top right) to copy it to your account
  3. Rename: Go to Settings and rename the repository to yourusername.github.io
  4. Edit: Click on _config.yml and edit your name, bio, and social links
  5. Commit: Save your changes
  6. Configure Pages: Go to “Settings” > “Pages” and select the main (or master) branch as the source
  7. Wait: GitHub will automatically build your site (takes 1-2 minutes)
  8. Check: Go to https://yourusername.github.io and see your live portfolio!

You now have a professional website that showcases your work! 🎉